Mountain Caribou

Jill has long pined to see a caribou in the wild, but the dwindling numbers of the mountain caribou subspecies makes them, quite literally, the rarest animal to find in the Canadian Rockies. Yet in 2017, we found two males. Twice. In the spring, we felt extremely lucky to snap a few images of the seriously endangered ungulates and when we found (we believe) the same two males again in November, one still sporting its antlers, we’re were over the moon. Making the encounter even better? The beautiful pink light of the rising sun on a cold winter’s morning. We certainly hope these majestic ungulates are able to rebound, but know the road ahead is a long one for the mountain caribou. Here’s hoping the few images we were able to capture allows us to bring a powerful narrative into classrooms across Canada to inspire more people to give these creatures a voice.